Ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, TSA officials expected to screen roughly 2.6 million passengers nationwide, nearing pre-pandemic levels.
in Los Angeles, LAX officials expected its busiest weekend of air travel since March 2020, but on the Central Coast, travelers flying out of the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport say they arrived extra early Monday morning in anticipation of those same crowds.
“Two hours because I am used to big airports, so I was here way early,” said Kim Lewis, who was in town for the weekend from Florida. “I was here before the check-in people.”
“I think almost three hours. My flight doesn’t leave until 1 p.m. I was kind of anticipating crowds but there really aren’t any,” added Madi Castello, a Cal Poly student who was at the airport flying to Ohio for her sister’s high school graduation.
Meanwhile, Gregory Smith, who was in San Luis Obispo for the holiday for a high school reunion with friends, says the lighter crowds at his hometown airport are nothing new.
“It really is fantastic; it is nice to come into this airport. It is a nice little facility; you can get in and get out. It is very stress-free compared to other airports,” Smith told KSBY.
And while many people at the airport Monday were wrapping up their Memorial Day trips, others say their trips were just beginning.
“I was trying to be there enough, where I get to leave on the holiday and come back afterwards so it is not too busy, hopefully,” Castello said.
But as AAA estimated an 11% bump in nationwide travel this Memorial Day weekend compared to last year, Kim Lewis says she knows the other layovers on her journey back home may be a bit different that the airport crowds she saw in San Luis Obispo.
“We land in Denver and then go back to Florida so we will see. It is Memorial Day weekend, so fingers crossed it is not crazy,” Lewis added.
Officials at the Santa Barbara Airport say they anticipated an influx of 2,000 more passengers per day this past weekend, while a spokesperson with the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport says compared to last year, their travel numbers for 2023 are already up 25%.
AAA officials say nationwide, they expected 42.3 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more away from home this holiday weekend, up 7% from a year ago.
